Today's Scripture Reading (May 10, 2026): Isaiah 14
Legacy
is a strange thing. And experiences can shape how we view our leaders, even
generations after their leadership ends. One example I have spent some time
thinking about is the reign of King Leopold II of Belgium, who reigned for 44
years, from 1865 to 1909. The legacy of Leopold II might depend on where you
experienced him. Some see him as a great leader of his time. Statues are built
to him in Belgium. In a world that seems to have gone overboard with cancel
culture, apparently, Leopold II has not been canceled.
Some of
us see a good reason to "cancel" Leopold. Maybe the reason he hasn't
been is that his sin occurred in Africa. Leopold believed that a nation's
greatness depended on its overseas possessions, especially in Africa, which it
could control. So, Leopold took over Congo in the heart of Africa. The problem
is that Congo didn't become Belgian property; it essentially became Leopold's
personal property. And Leopold might have been a good king in Belgium, but in
what he called the Congo Free State, he was about as bad a tyrant as anyone can
imagine. I need to make it clear that I have close friends who are Congolese,
and I have heard some of the historical stories passed down from that proud
nation's history.
The list
of Leopold's sins is long. The atrocities ordered by Leopold in the Congo Free
State include enslaving a people, torture, murder, kidnapping, and even the
amputation of the hands and feet of people, including children, when the quota
of rubber was not met. Leopold's practices in the Congo have been described by
George Washington Williams, a pastor, naval officer, and politician, as a crime
against humanity. The Congo continues to suffer today; it is divided and at war
with itself, and one has to wonder how different life in central Africa might
have been if it had never come under Leopold II's control. I know that over a
century after the King's death, my friends still talk of his terrible reign in
their country.
Isaiah
argues that God breaks the power of the wicked and the scepter of wicked kings.
I think that is sometimes true, but often I wonder if God couldn't do things
just a little faster. Leopold II died peacefully in his bed from an embolism.
Maybe, in Leopold's case, part of breaking the King's power was that his
nephew, Albert I, succeeded him as King.
Or maybe
the breaking of Leopold's power is the way some have remembered the King after
his death. I have to admit that I feel the emotion and pain in the work of
poets like Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931), who wrote of Leopold II,
Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost.
Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host.
Hear how the demons chuckle and yell.
Cutting his hands off, down in Hell (Vachel
Lindsay, 1914).
Or maybe it is
just the knowledge that even if we escape from this life with our power intact,
we will still have to deal with God for our great sin at the end of the age.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 15 & 16
No comments:
Post a Comment